Västergötland
Västergötland, literally translated as western Götaland, is one of Sweden's most populous provinces.
Regions
Several different subdivisions have been used during the centuries, and with the province currently conjoined with Bohuslän and Dalsland to form the enormous Western Götaland County, with municipal confederations overlapping provincial borders. Here is a rough subdivision of the province:
| Gothenburg Sweden's second largest city, with a rich industrial and maritime heritage. |
| Suburban Gothenburg (Alingsås, Lerum, Härryda, Mölndal, Partille) The suburbs of Gothenburg. |
| Göta Älvdal (Trollhättan, Vänersborg, Lilla Edet and Ale) the settlements along Göta river |
| Sjuhäradsbygden (Bollebygd, Borås, Herrljunga, Mark, Svenljunga, Tranemo, Ulricehamn, Vårgårda) once home to the Swedish textile industry, still known for entrepreneurship. Borås is the dominant city. |
| Varaslätten (Essunga, Grästorp, Götene, Lidköping, Skara, Vara) the fertile plain south-east of lake Vänern, with Skara, arguably Sweden's oldest surviving city. |
| Vadsbo (Gullspång, Karlsborg, Laxå, Mariestad, Töreboda) The forested north-eastern area, with the Karlsborg fortress, Göta kanal, and the Tiveden national park. |
| Eastern Skaraborg (Falköping, Habo, Hjo, Mullsjö, Skövde, Tibro, Tidaholm) The region just west of lake Vättern, with Skövde being the dominant city. |
| Gothenburg archipelago |
Cities
- Alingsås
- Borås, once the home of the Swedish textile industry, still a centre for fashion design
- Gothenburg (Göteborg)
- Lidköping
- Mariestad
- Skara, a millennial city, known for its cathedral, and the Skara Sommarland theme park.
- Skövde, the small town that feels like a city is easy to get to from both Stockholm and Gothenburg.
- Trollhättan
- Uddevalla
Other destinations
Understand
Västergötland was the core territory of the Geats, götar, a tribe that has been associated with the Goths. Around AD 1000, they united with the Suiones, svear, to form Sweden. Älvsborg, at present-day Gothenburg, was Sweden's only western port until the 17th century. Västergötland was the centre of the Swedish textile industry, until de-industrialization in the mid-20th century.
The people of Västergötland are rumoured to be humorous and optimistic.
Talk
Get in
By plane
Both Landvetter Airport (airport code: GOT) [1] and Gothenburg City Airport (airport code: GSE) [2] serves Gothenburg, the largest city in the region. Airlines include SAS [3], FlyMe [4], Lufthansa [5], KLM [6] and Ryanair [7]. Two other airports in the region are Trollhättan Airport and Halmstad Airport, with flights from Stockholm only.
By train
Train go to Gothenburg, from Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Kalmar, Luleå and more cities.
Get around
Public transport in Västra Götaland is organized by Västtrafik [8].
See
- Läckö Castle - A 13th century castle situated by the lake Vänern.
- Lake Hornborga (Hornborgasjön) (Falköping). A must for any bird lover in the area. Known as the lake where up to 12,000 cranes stop on their way back from warmer countries.
- At various sites in Tanum you can visit famous Bronze Age rock carvings (Unesco World Heritage). The museum at Vitlycke has a reconstruction of a Bronze Age Farm.
Itineraries
Do
- Liseberg. The biggest amusement park in all of Scandinavia - is in Gothenburg.
- Anten - Gräfsnäs Vintage Railroad. Is a well preserved vintage railroad line running along the lake Anten not far from Alingsås. With a length of 12 km, it runs during the summer months.
Eat
Drink
Stay safe
Though not as cold as further north, western Sweden has the country's wettest and foggiest climate. Occasional flooding of river valleys during severe weather, and thunderstorms. See storms.